It’s been three years since Eleanore and I have had a Thanksgiving
dinner with both of our children, at the same time. For a number of years, Eugene
lived in Baltimore attending Johns Hopkins University and then teaching in the
Baltimore Public Schools to reduce a portion of his student loans. Now Eugene is
home, teaching at James Madison Junior High School in Brookfield Village, one
of Oakland’s toughest neighborhoods,.

“As a mentor teacher you’re going to learn a lot more about
teaching now,” Eleanore comments.

Eleanore knows a lot about mentoring new teachers. For five
of her fifteen years as an elementary school teacher, she served as a mentor
teacher through the Oakland School District’s new teacher support program. After
receiving her credential as a Reading Specialist along with her MS Ed in 2008,
this year she took a non classroom job assisting teachers with the new Common Core standards and Balanced Literacy pedagogies at
Fruitvale School.

“I’m already learning more than he is,” Eugene remarks.

“What do you mean?” his mother asks.

“The new Common Core curriculum puts so much pressure on both
teachers and students that only those who have technology as well as classroom
management skills can be successful,” Eugene replies. “Everyone else is being
left behind.”

“Which seems to be the plan,” I remarked.

“Whatever happened to “No
Child Left Behind”? Jennifer snickers.

“If you’re “Racing To
The Top” somebody has to be left behind,” I laugh. But knowing how I feel
about Barack Obama no one comments on my pun.

After a lapse in the conversation, Eleanore says, “If the
students can’t read at the advanced levels the Common Core curriculum cannot
advance their education. Successful Common Core implementation depends upon
literate parents who read to their children and who read, themselves.”

“And you don’t find much of that in Brookfield Village,”
Eugene says.

“In Brookfield Village,”
Eleanore says. “You don’t find that anywhere in Oakland. How many black parents
do you know who can read and who also read to their children?”

Eugene ignores the tangent in the conversation and continues
with his train of thought. “My mentee graduated from Columbia and has technology
skills but is having difficulty managing his classroom.”

“Technology is an essential learning tool …” Jennifer
offers.

As a college student, Jennifer uses her computer for
everything from school registration and checking class schedules to research
and sharing notes with her classmates.

“Dad bought you a computer for school,” Eugene retorts. “Some
of my kids don’t even have one computer
in their homes.” He pauses, then he continues. “Some of my kids don’t have
homes.”

“What do you mean?” Jennifer asks.

“The new teacher that I mentor was having trouble with one
of his students so I gave him some intervention strategies ____ one of which
was to have the parent come to school and observe the student in class once or
twice a week.”

“What happened?”

“At first, the student began to improve. She became
attentive and attempted to do her work. But then things started to
deteriorate.”

“Deteriorate how?” Eleanore ask

“When the student didn’t turn her homework in on time, my
teacher penalized her,” Eugene said.

“Why didn’t you suggest to your mentee that he allow the
student do her homework in class?”

“I did…”

“And..?”

“He was inflexible,” Eugene explained. “He said that his
students needed to understand that homework was to be done at home.”

“So then what happened,” Eleanore asked.

“The student’s mother stopped coming to class and the
student relapsed into her old behaviors.”